The Story Of Smudger
'''The Story of Smudger is the second episode of North Western Railway Stories.''' Story Because of numerous celebrations during the previous week, all of the Skarloey Railway engines were tired and growing weaker by the minute. Check-offs were few and malfunctions were common, but, surprisingly, Mighty Mac didn't have any accidents, so it would be thought that they would be the happiest, while, in reality, they weren't. "Can you believe," Mac shouted to all the other engines that night, "that all of those passengers decide to travel on our railway when the celebrations have nothing to do with us! It doesn't make any sense!" Mighty continued. "We aren't Richard's engines! We should not be forced to do work for him!" "But, it is a favour for Sir Richard for us to do our best job!" Skarloey reminded them. "Remember when Sir Roger Brown's foot got ran over by that tractor?" Mighty and Mac were reminded of an incident that Rheneas told them about, during which Sir Charles Topham Hatt needed to run the railway while Roger was recovering back in the mid-'90's. "I think I have a story about this too" Duke said cheerfully. "Sir Handel and Peter Sam might already know this one, but I know the rest of you don't! Here it is..." "One day, back in 1914, on the Mid Sodor Railway, our controller was talking to my driver. I heard the conversation through the wall. "We are getting more and more passengers each day" he said. The work for Duke is becoming hard. He is getting old so why don't I buy a new engine." The only engine he could find, however, was a American engine who had a record of derailing and getting sold from railway to railway during extremely quick shifts, but since he was very desperate, he bought the engine anyway. "It took a few mouths but finally he came. The engine came with the nameplate "Smudger" on his side, which might have been a note on his behavior. When he puffed into the sheds, he was quiet. I then said "Hello, my name is Duke! What's your name?" The engine then said with an angry tone is his voice "Listen Dukey, I don't want to be talked to and you will not talk to me. Understand?" Duke was shocked by his comment and said "excuse me but why do you have to be so rude?" "Back in the states," he stated very clearly, "we don't talk to the other engines, we just work with them," and for the rest of the night, we were silent. "The next day Smudger had to shunt trucks at the slate mine. He was riding so rough on the rails that they came off. The next day, he took passengers to the top station and he rode rough again. So rough that once again they derailed. The passengers complained and said how bad the "Mid Sodor Railway" was. Our controller lost patience and gave him one last chance. He did not tell Smudger to continue or stop. The next day he had to take trucks from the slate mine to the top station. Then a lorry would take it away to a lumber mill when they would be turned into boards. "On the way there he started to shake back and forth. Slate spilled out of the trucks. His driver also lost patience and said "Could you ride a bit smoother?" He didn't listen and he derailed shortly after. Duke was sent to put him back on the rails. "Manager is not going to like this" said Duke. "You should ride more carefully" Smudger grinned and then said "Back in the States, we don't care about a few spills." "We do here" said Duke. The next day the controller came. He spoke angrilly to Smudger. In a few days he was taken away. A couple months later he came back but not even as a engine. He was a generator. He was installed behind the shed and to never move again." "And there he stays, Mighty Mac. Get the picture?" "Are you sure about that?" Mighty asked. "Why yes! I heard Jock and Mike talking about a weird looking generator at the back of their shed, and, as you know, the Arlesdale Railway was built upon the old Mid Sodor lines." Mighty and Mac were shocked. "Back of the sheds for a hundred years!!!" they said in unison. "Yes!" Skarloey answered. "A hundred years! You should be thankful that you have not derailed recently, and if you remember, Smudger didn't co-operate with staff, passengers, or the other engines! Make sure you behave well!" Mighty Mac, as scared as ever, slowly reversed into the shed. "Good job!" Skarloey said. "I have another story about bad-behaived engines to tell you all!" "Who is it about?" Duke asked Skarloey. "Us!" Rheneas laughed, and thus started a night of laughs and stories, as Mighty and Mac thought hard about what it means to be really useful. Characters * Smudger * Duke * Mighty Mac * Skarloey * Rheneas * Peter Sam * MSR Controller * Sir Handel (does not speak) * Rusty (cameo) * Duncan (cameo) * Freddie (cameo) * Luke (cameo) * Jock (mentioned) * Mike (mentioned) * Sir Richard Topham Hatt IV (mentioned) * Sir Roger Brown (mentioned) * Sir Charles Topham Hatt (mentioned) Trivia * This is the first story written on this wiki by Nightmare studios. Cast *Writer - Nightmare studios (Final Draft By TEHGJPTDDDO) *Director - Nightmare studios *Producer - TEHGJPTDDDO